Naruto The Blind Sword
by Saberfan123
Summary: Naruto is blinded during his fight with Sasuke. Then Kyuubi appears and makes him an offer...
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi all. This is my attempt at pudgypudge's 'Darkness Is My Friend' Challenge.

Chapter 1

Naruto awoke with a start. It was always like this. He never could seem to get any proper sleep. Strange considering he was blind. As he lay on his back staring up at where he thought the ceiling should be, he thought back to the day it happened.

**Flashback**

As they stood across from each other, each on one side of the Valley of the End, Naruto used more of the Fox's chakra and charged up another Rasengan. Unbeknownst to him, the Fox's chakra had also begun to cover his body and was forming a chakra tail behind him.

"I won't let you go to Orochimaru, Sasuke!" he shouted.

"Oh yeah dobe, and how are you going to stop me?" Sasuke asked, as he transformed into the second level of the cursed seal.

"Like this!" Naruto shouted, and leapt at him, forming a Rasengan in his right hand.

Suddenly, Sasuke leaped at him so quickly he seemed to disappear. The next moment seemed to last for hours. Sasuke grabbed him by the throat and with two quick movements, ripped out his eyes. With that done Sasuke dropped him into the water.

"Let's see you stop me if you can't see me, asshole." Sasuke said menacingly. With that he leaped away and continued his journey to Sound

It had been Kakashi who had found him floating on top of the water. While he was carrying him back to Konoha, Naruto and The Fox were in a heated discussion.

"**That was pathetic you know."** The fox's voice thundered through the sewer that was his mind.

"Yeah, well, if you would maybe, I don't know, HELP ME, it wouldn't have been so pathetic." Naruto answered irritably. "And why is it I can still see here?" Naruto asked.

"**Well, that is because it is your mind. Fundamental things such as your senses remain even if you lose them in the physical world."** Kyuubi answered. **"As to your rather frank question of help, that was mainly why I called you here."**

"Well, get on with it!" Naruto shouted.

"**Yes, well. As I was saying before being so rudely interrupted, I am offering my help in training you, since you so obviously lack skill."** Kyuubi continued. **"But if this is going to work, then you are going to have to learn some control."**

"Sorry, this whole situation has just got me a little worked up." Naruto answered in a calmer tone.

"**Better. Now, I have healed most of your wounds. The nerves in your eyes have been cauterised, including the interior of your eye sockets." **Kyuubi explained. **"You'll have to wear a wrap or a bandage over them though, otherwise you are definitely not getting laid."** He added jokingly.

"Ero-fox." Naruto grumbled.

"**Quite. Though I did mean it with a hint of seriousness."** He continued **"Don't worry though. Because of this, your senses will become even sharper than they already are. You will even be able to smell if someone is lying. You will however have to convince the Hokage to let you remain a ninja. How you do that I leave up to you."**

"So what are you going to teach me?" Naruto asked with a hint of excitement.

"**Well, firstly, I'm going to teach you how to use your other senses together to 'see' your surroundings. This will not only be useful in your everyday life, but will also be used heavily in something else I am going to teach you."** Kyuubi explained.

"And what's that?"

"**Kenjutsu. A unique style of kenjutsu that has mostly been lost, but was originally developed by a blind swordsman."** Kyuubi explained.

With that said they arrived at the gates.

"Jounin Hatake Kakashi, with Genin Uzumaki Naruto." Kakashi said to one of the guards.

"Where is Uchiha Sasuke?" He asked.

"Report him as AWOL." Kakashi said after a long pause.

**Flashback End**

That had been a week ago now. Tsunade was not happy when she saw the state Naruto was in of course.

**Flashback**

As she slid the door to Naruto's room closed behind her, Tsunade swore under her breath and said "ANBU."

A ninja wearing a cat mask appeared. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"Find Kakashi. Tell him to report to my office immediately to report on what the hell happened." She growled.

"Yes Hokage-sama." He answered and proceeded to disappear in a leaf shunshin.

An hour later, Kakashi arrived at her office and knocked on her door.

"Enter."

"Kakashi Hatake, reporting as ordered." Kakashi said after closing the door behind him.

"Well Kakashi, this is a surprise. You're here quicker than I expected you to be." Tsunade replied. "But that's fine." She leaned on her desk and bridged her fingers under her nose. "Explain to me why Uzumaki Naruto is in the state he's in." she said in a soft, menacing voice.

"I don't understand Hokage-sama, when I dropped him off at the hospital there did not seem to be anything wrong." Kakashi answered nervously.

"Oh come on Kakashi, wake up!" Tsunade exploded. "I'm talking about his eyes. What the FUCK happened to his eyes?"

"Well Tsunade-sama, it seems they were ripped out. Sasuke must have gotten the upper hand and ripped them out." Kakashi theorised

"Yes well. Did he cauterise his sockets as well, or how do you think that happened?" she asked exasperatedly.

"It must have been his prisoner's doing." Kakashi answered. "It must have seen it as the only way to protect Naruto from infection."

"Yes, well. It seems his ninja career is over as it stands now." Tsunade said.

"He isn't going to take that well." Kakashi responded.

"That's the understatement of the century." Tsunade said humourlessly.

**Flashback End**

After that, Tsunade stopped by to tell him that she would have to release him from the ninja corps.

**Flashback**

"That's fine Tsunade-sama." He answered, his face turned toward the window.

"What's with the respect brat?" Tsunade asked.

"Kyuubi said I should be more respectful of those in authority positions. Could I ask just one thing?"

"You just did. You can ask me one more thing though." She said with a small smile.

"If by some miracle, I become good enough to join the ninja ranks again, even with my blindness, will you let me?" he asked.

"Well, I'll have to test you but okay, sure." She answered thinking that it couldn't do any harm in giving him something to live for.

"Thanks Baa-chan." He said with a small smile of his own.

"You'll have to stay here for a week of course, but after that you'll be released." She added.

With that said , she turned and left.

**Flashback End**

Even while he was in hospital though, Kyuubi trained him. Meditation, mostly, to help him focus his other senses to compensate for his blindness, as well as some physical training.

The surprise had come the day after, when Sakura had stopped by.

**Flashback**

A knock on his door had Naruto turn slightly. Shortly after Tsunade left he had asked Shizune for a piece of cloth to tie over his eyes without covering his ears. She had returned a few minutes later with the requested cloth and helped him tie it over his eyes. Even though he could do it himself because of his sharper senses, he let her do it. Kyuubi had told him that it was not wise to let anyone know that his senses were any sharper than before yet.

She left shortly thereafter to continue her rounds so Naruto was wondering who this could be, though he had a vague suspicion.

"Come in." he said

The door slid open and from out of nowhere he was struck by some kind of human missile.

"Naruto, I came as soon as I heard. Are you okay?" Sakura asked with tears in her eyes.

"I'm fine Sakura-chan. Are you crying?" Naruto asked.

Pulling back Sakura wiped away the tears and frowned slightly. "No. Why do you ask?"

Noticing his slip-up he tried to cover it up quickly. "No reason. Just asking." He continued "I'm sorry I couldn't bring Sasuke back Sakura-chan."

"It's fine Naruto, you just get better, I'll look for him next time." Sakura answered with a sad look on her face. "Listen Naruto, could I ask you something?"

"Sure Sakura-chan." Naruto answered with a smile.

"Could I, you know, see what it looks like?" she asked hesitantly

His smile faded slightly. "I don't really want you to. It will give you nightmares." 'Like when Baa-chan saw me that first time, she nearly screamed' he thought to himself.

"I'll be the judge of that." She said with a determined voice. She reached up to untie it, but waited for his answer.

"Fine, just don't scream okay? Otherwise the nurses will think I'm molesting you." He answered with a grin.

She untied the cloth and slowly removed the cloth. When she fully removed it, she gasped at the sight. His sockets were still empty but the interior was starting to scab over. At her reaction Naruto shut his eyes tightly and turned his head away slightly.

"Well, at least you didn't scream." He said glumly. "Could you put it back on now?" he asked.

She quickly tied it over his eyes again and proceeded to make small-talk, but the mood was slightly tense.

Suddenly after a lull in their conversation, Sakura stood up and said she had some errands to run.

Naruto nodded glumly and said goodbye, thinking that it was probably an excuse to get away from him. In all likelihood she probably thought him even more of a freak than he was before.

What surprised him however was that she came to visit again the day after. She continued to visit for an hour every day for that entire week.

**Flashback End**

'Yep, I didn't think she had it in her.' He thought to himself. 'She should actually be arriving any time now.'

---

As Shizune finished her rounds she stopped by the nurses' desk to drop a few files.

"Excuse me Shizune-san?" someone asked.

Turning she saw that it was Hinata Hyuuga.

"How can I help you Hinata-chan?"

"Well, I was just wondering if it's true that N-Naruto is checking out today."

"Yes, but he's still in his room if you want to go and say hi." Shizune said.

"O-Okay, I'll do that." She stammered

A/N: Okay folks, that's it for now. For those who are wondering, the entire Rookie Nine are 17 or 18 give or take. Graduating age is 16, this is of course a few months after that.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry, I didn't mention it before but, I of course do not own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke wouldn't be such a superstar. Any other characters mentioned during the course of this story belong to their various owners. This is the first and last time I'm putting a disclaimer up for this story so take note.

Chapter 2

"O-Okay, I'll do that." Hinata stammered.

"Well, follow me then. I was heading there next anyway."

They walked down the hall and soon reached his room. As Shizune stopped in front of the door, she turned to Hinata. "You know what happened to him right?"

"Y-Yes, Sasuke blinded him." Hinata answered.

"Yes, but you know how he did it right?" Shizune continued to question.

"Yes Shizune-san, Sasuke ripped out his eyes." Hinata said, clenching her teeth slightly after answering.

"Well, I'm asking, because I'm going to have to take off the cloth he has over his eyes. I'm asking because if you're at all squeamish, you should wait outside first." Shizune explained seriously.

"I'll be fine Shizune-san." Hinata said

"Okay then."

Naruto had heard this entire exchange of course. He was happy to hear that Hinata was not afraid to see his wound. As they entered, he turned towards them.

"Morning, Naruto-kun." Shizune greeted cheerfully. "How are you doing this morning?"

"Fine, Shizune-neechan. I'm just still having trouble sleeping for some reason." He answered with a small smile.

"H-Hello N-Naruto-kun." Hinata greeted him. "I'm glad to see you're doing so well."

"Oh, hello Hinata-chan." Naruto greeted her.

"'**Naruto-kun' is it? Sounds like she is quite taken with you kit."** Kyuubi chirped.

'Shut up fox! She's just being nice.' Naruto answered sharply

"Well Naruto-kun, I just need to check your injury again and then you can check out." Shizune said. She then proceeded to untie the cloth around his eyes.

As she was about to remove it, Naruto reached to stop her. "Are you sure you want to be here for this Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked uncertainly.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. Don't worry, I won't run away." Hinata said.

With that said Naruto let Shizune continue. As she removed the wrap from Naruto's eyes, there was a slight gasp from Hinata. Hearing this, Naruto jerked his head away.

"No, Naruto-kun, it's okay. I was just surprised, that's all." She answered quickly.

"Okay. Shizune-neechan, get on with it." Naruto said gruffly.

As Shizune finished up, she tied the wrap back over Naruto's eyes. "Well Naruto-kun, it seems the injury is healing nicely." Shizune said.

"Thanks Shizune-chan." Naruto answered and proceeded to get his stuff, which was mostly his cane and his hitai-ate. Tsunade gave him the cane to help him get around town, and Naruto had already begun practicing with it. Why he didn't know, and one day he decided to ask Kyuubi.

**Flashback**

As he was finishing up his practice, Naruto asked a question that had been eating at him since Kyuubi first told him to practice using the cane.

'Kyuubi-sensei, why do I have to use the cane anyway? I can get around perfectly fine using my other senses.'

"**Well, my idiot apprentice, you have to keep up appearances. Nobody must know about your sharpened senses until it's too late. And on top of that, the kenjutsu I'm going to teach you relies heavily on that fact."** Kyuubi explained.

"What fact is that?" Naruto asked as he got into bed.

"**The fact that people misjudge a blind person."** Kyuubi answered.

**Flashback End**

As he turned to leave, Hinata suddenly asked. "Would you like to go and get something to eat?"

"Okay, sure Hinata-chan. Ramen okay?" Naruto answered

"Sure Naruto-kun." Hinata answered happily

So they made their way to the front desk to check out. As they made their way to Ichiraku Ramen, Hinata looked at Naruto from the corner of her eye. She watched him tapping away with his cane. As they reached Ichiraku Ramen Hinata decided to brooch the subject that had been on her mind. "Um, Naruto-kun." Hinata said.

"Yes Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked.

"Will you be able to eat ramen. I don't mean to sound rude, but how can you eat if you can't see what you're eating." Hinata said.

"**There's no reason to show or tell her yet, kit."** Kyuubi answered

'Fine. I think she'd like it more to feed me anyway.' Naruto thought.

"Well Hinata-chan, I didn't really think of that. Maybe you should feed me." Naruto said with a smile.

"O-O-Okay N-N-Naruto-kun." Hinata stammered, blushing bright enough to put a lighthouse to shame.

As they entered the ramen stand, Ayame greeted them. "Welcome, Hinata-chan." She said and turned to greet Hinata's guest, she screamed with joy and called her father. "Dad! Come out here! Naruto's been released from hospital!"

"Well, it's good to see you again Naruto." Teuchi greeted as he came out of the kitchen. "What can I get you?"

"Beef ramen for me thanks." Naruto said

"Vegetable ramen for me, please." Hinata said

"Coming right up." Teuchi said and disappeared into the kitchen again.

Fortunately, Hinata's order arrived first. She finished it as quickly as her dignity and manners allowed. She finished it just in time, as she was placing her chopsticks back in the bowl Naruto's order arrived.

"Well, Naruto-kun. What would you like first: Some of the soup, or some of the meat, vegetables or noodles?"

"Some of the noodles to start with thank you Hinata." Naruto replied.

So she pinched up some noodles and carefully fed it to him. And so it continued, with Hinata alternating between the noodles, vegetables, meat and soup. Finally Naruto swallowed the last of the soup, uttering a satisfied sigh afterwards.

"Wow, that's the first time I'm satisfied after one bowl of ramen." Naruto sighed.

"Probably because that was the first time you actually ate your food instead of bolting it like you were in a race against time." Teuchi said with a smile.

"Ha, you're probably right Old Man." Naruto said, laughing.

"**Finish up, you have to get home and rest. Tomorrow we start training your kenjutsu."** Kyuubi said.

'Okay sure.' Naruto replied in his mind.

"Listen Hinata, I'll have to go, and you have to get home as well." Naruto said shortly.

"Okay Naruto, sure." Hinata replied a little dejectedly "I'll see you again okay."

"Sure." And with that, he was off, his cane tapping away in the dirt of the road.

"**You didn't have to be quite so short with her kit."** Kyuubi said after a while.

'I know Kyuubi, but the less she or anyone else bothers me from tomorrow onwards, the less chance I have to tell anyone until my training is finished.'

"**Very well kit, but for the final part of your training, we'll have to go to Trade Town to get you a modified cane."**

'What do you mean a modified cane?'

"**Like I have said, the style relies completely on fooling your enemy. That includes making it seem as if you are not armed until it is too late for your enemy."**

'So what you're saying is that I should stop trying to be a ninja.'

"**Yes, basically. I'll explain more tomorrow."**

With that said Naruto made his way back home, unmolested surprisingly.

---

The next morning Naruto got up early and finished his ablutions without even noticing that he didn't fumble the soap – or anything else – even once.

He finished up and made his way to a secluded training ground and started to stretch and warm up, when Kyuubi finally spoke.

"**You didn't even notice this morning, did you?"**

'Notice what?'

"**Your senses are already so attuned to your surroundings that you didn't fumble around for anything once this morning."**

'Oh yeah. You're right.'

"**Very well, that's enough with the warm-up. The style I'm going to teach you was created by a man called Zatoichi. He was blind since birth, so he had more time to perfect it. In your case though, the hardest part is already over. He was human and had to practice refining his senses. Your senses however are already so sensitive because of my influence, you merely need to learn the actual style."**

While this explanation was going on, Naruto decided to go and sit in the lotus position under the tree. When Kyuubi finally finished it began to explain the style.

"**The main strength of the style, if you could put it that way, is that it relies on fast precise strikes to quickly incapacitate and kill an opponent. It is mostly a battoujutsu style, in that the sword is drawn from within the cane, an attack is made and the sword is replaced all in one motion. Now let's begin."**

And so it began.

A/N: To those who are wondering, I only use Japanese for techniques and jutsus (kage bunshin, rasengan etc.). Anyone who hasn't seen Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman, don't worry, no other characters will make their appearance in the story. You people will have to tell me who should be the female in the pairing. The choices are: Hinata, Sakura, or a female Kyuubi. Though I'm not sure how I'm gonna make that last one work, but I'm gonna try.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Six months later**

As Naruto was winding down for the day, Kyuubi chimed in. **"So kit, I have been thinking."**

'Shoot, Kyuubi.' Naruto replied.

"**You'll have to speak with Tsunade and request permission to go to Trade Town."**

'Yeah, I'll have to tell her about leaving to get my sword.'

"**True. You'll have to ask her if she knows of anyone makes those kinds of weapons. So what about your cover career?"**

'Well, I thought maybe I'd become a masseur or something like that.'

"**You really are very like Zatoichi aren't you?"**

'Why do you say that?'

"**Well, you chose exactly the career Zatoichi did."**

As they were talking Naruto was tapping his way to the Hokage Tower. 'Well, that must be pure coincidence.'

With that said, they reached the Hokage's office. "Hello Naruto, we haven't seen in a while." Shizune said.

"Yeah, I've been busy." Naruto answered. "Could I speak with Tsunade please?"

"Sure Naruto-kun, hang on a moment." She answered and pushed the intercom button.

"Yes Shizune?" Came the reply.

"Naruto-kun is here to see you." Shizune said.

"Send him in." Tsunade answered.

As Naruto entered Tsunade greeted him. "How have you been Naruto, we haven't seen you in a while."

"Yes, it has been a while Baa-chan."

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

Getting straight to the point, Naruto said "I wanted to ask you if you know of anyone who can make swords hidden in canes."

Tsunade frowned slightly. "Why you ask about something like that brat?"

"Well Baa-chan, as part of the sword style I've been training in, I need a sword that is hidden in a cane."

"Ah, why am I not surprised. Have you spoken with the fox recently?"

"Well, yes, but how did you know?"

"She's the only one who would know." Tsunade explained.

"What? Wait, how did you know that she's a she." Naruto asked.

"Oops. Wait, how did you know?" Tsunade tried to cover her slip-up.

"Well, it happened like this."

**Flashback**

**Three Months Ago**

"Hey Kyuubi so what's next?" Naruto asked as he finished the latest sequence of attacks.

Kyuubi was silent.

"Kyuubi, are you okay?" Naruto asked, as he went into his mindscape.

When he arrived he was surprised to find the cage behind which Kyuubi was, was empty.

'Oh shit, Kyuubi's gone! Wait, if Kyuubi's gone, then I'm supposed to be dead. So it still has to be here' Naruto thought.

"Kit, what are you doing here? I'm fine, just get back outside and carry on with your training." A voice was heard from further back in the cage.

"Wait a minute, you don't sound like Kyuubi, who are you?" Naruto asked.

"Listen kit, just get back outside."

"No, I want an answer right now."

With that, Naruto walked into the cage. As he strained his eyes to see into the darker corners, he noticed a girl around his age standing in the corner: She was around his height, with flaming red hair. She had all the right curves in all the right places as well as D-cup breasts.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked. Then suddenly a thought struck him. "What are you doing here, isn't Kyuubi supposed to be here?"

"I am the Kyuubi." The young woman said simply/

"So, wait, you're the almighty Kyuubi? Why aren't you a fox?"

"Because, oh brainless one, I thought I could walk around in my hanyou form, but clearly that was the wrong decision." She said, dripping sarcasm.

As she said the word 'hanyou' he noticed that she had fox ears on top of her head and the tip of a fox tail was peeking out behind her back.

"I didn't think demons could change into hanyous." Naruto said.

"Well, we can, obviously. I didn't think I would be able to do it from within the seal, but I decided to try it a month ago and so far there hasn't been any negative reaction from the seal." Kyuubi explained.

"Oh, okay." Was Naruto's genius reply.

**Flashback End**

"That's how I know. How do you know?" Naruto asked.

"Well, I've had a suspicion for a while now. Only a woman would cause that much destruction." Tsunade answered.

"**You know, I'm starting to like her."** Kyuubi said with a grin.

'Yeah, I'll just bet you do.' Naruto answered.

"So I basically confirmed your suspicions?" He asked Tsunade.

"Yep, So what did you want brat."

"I wanted your permission to travel to Trade town for an errand."

"Oh, and what is this errand?"

"It's private and personal and my own business." Naruto replied shortly.

"Ookay, sorry I asked." Tsunade answered with a slight frown.

"**Naruto-kun, if you want, you can tell her about your training."** Kyuubi said.

'Are you sure Kyuu-chan?'

"**Yes Naruto-kun, go ahead."** Kyuubi answered.

So Naruto proceeded to explain to Tsunade the training he had been undertaking up to this point.

"So you see Baa-chan, the reason I need to visit Trade Town is to get someone to make me a hidden sword." Naruto finished.

After a moment of silence Tsunade asked. "Is this all part of your plan to become a ninja again?"

"Yes, it is." Naruto answered. "But I think I'm going to focus on kenjutsu from now on."

"Okay, you can go." Tsunade answered finally. "But be careful, and when you come back I want you to be tested privately against someone who has also devoted his life to kenjutsu, to see if you will be allowed into the Ninja Corps again."

"Thank you Baa-chan." And so saying, he left.

A/N: Short I know, but I decided to work on this again, don't worry, my other Naruto fics will be updated as well. Sasuke will also enter the story from here on.


End file.
